Workers strike at IKEA Richmond store

[ABFwife]

IKEA's Richmond store is behind picket lines after the Teamsters union served the company with a strike notice last week.

Teamsters local 213 — which represents 350 store employees — takes issue with the company's contract offers, rejected twice by members, which proposed a return to a tiered-wage system.

Workers strike at IKEA Richmond store - British Columbia - CBC News

[ABFwife]

Our brothers and sisters in Canada are in a tough struggle with IKEA, which has locked them out for a month and tried unsuccessfully to hire replacement workers.

The furniture giant shut down its Richmond, B.C., store for an hour on May 13 after Teamsters rejected their contract offer by an 84 percent margin. It was the third time the 350 Teamster employees had voted down IKEA's offer.

Teamster Nation: IKEA locks out 350 Teamsters in Canada

[illmatic96ss]

what a shame

[ABFwife]

Ikea labour dispute drags on; mediation to resume Tuesday

I wish them all the best!!

Over 300 employees are on strike, said Teamster Derek Drake and 27 union members have crossed the picket line to work inside. The union has expelled those workers, increasing tensions as the sides attempt to negotiate.

“We are of course concerned about this development as this action essentially means the union is asking us to terminate our co-workers for exercising their legal right to work,” said Ikea spokeswoman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick, who said she is hopeful mediation, which began July 13 and resumes on Tuesday, will bring a solution.

Ikea labour dispute drags on; mediation to resume Tuesday

[7spdBrig]

The Richmond Ikea has been around for ages, and has been unionized for ages. Teamsters 213 is a pretty strong no nonsense local, perhaps due in part to it typically representing construction related trades. LaFarge/Ocean mixer drivers earn $32.00/hour base rate here under 213, which isn't that bad! (And double time on Saturday work!)

Back to Ikea... The problem is, Ikea opened a new location in Coquitlam (which is about an hour drive or so from the Richmond location). The Coquitlam location is not unionized, but there is a push to do so.

The original Richmond location made money, even when providing decent wages. However, now that another location has sprung up, Ikea Canada doesn't like the idea of the Richmond location setting that bar for wages anymore... They just want all subsequent locations to be simply minimum wage, service sector jobs. If they can break the Richmond location, the rest comes easy for Ikea...

Not much different than what Safeway did here in the last 20 years or so...

[ABFwife]

The Richmond Ikea has been around for ages, and has been unionized for ages. Teamsters 213 is a pretty strong no nonsense local, perhaps due in part to it typically representing construction related trades. LaFarge/Ocean mixer drivers earn $32.00/hour base rate here under 213, which isn't that bad! (And double time on Saturday work!)

Back to Ikea... The problem is, Ikea opened a new location in Coquitlam (which is about an hour drive or so from the Richmond location). The Coquitlam location is not unionized, but there is a push to do so.

The original Richmond location made money, even when providing decent wages. However, now that another location has sprung up, Ikea Canada doesn't like the idea of the Richmond location setting that bar for wages anymore... They just want all subsequent locations to be simply minimum wage, service sector jobs. If they can break the Richmond location, the rest comes easy for Ikea...

Not much different than what Safeway did here in the last 20 years or so...

Welcome to 7spdBrig!

[ABFwife]

Talks break down between Ikea and striking workers

The union representing Ikea workers in Richmond has rejected the company’s latest offer, including an automatic wage increase, as talks ground to a halt in the four-month labour dispute.

Mediation began July 13 and lasted two weeks between the Swedish home furnishings retailer and its union, Teamsters Local 213. But now talks have stalled and the parties remain at an impasse.

Ikea representative Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said the company’s last offer eliminated a two-tier wage system, which she said was “the primary barrier that brought the parties into mediation.”

Talks break down between Ikea and striking workers

[ABFwife]

Ikea face-off in Richmond marked by fourth contract offer rejection

Unionized workers locked out of the Richmond Ikea since May have unanimously rejected a fourth contract offer from the company, while other unions are calling for a boycott of the store at the centre of the dispute, as well as one in Coquitlam.

Ikea has been embroiled in a bitter labour fight with its Teamster employees at the Richmond outlet since May 13. The powerful firm reported US$32 billion in revenues last year.

Ikea face-off in Richmond marked by fourth contract offer rejection | The Hook

[ABFwife]

International fact-finding mission to probe IKEA’s behaviour in Canada

An international fact-finding team has arrived in Canada to examine an ongoing dispute at Swedish retail giant IKEA’s Richmond, British Columbia, store. The team is tasked with investigating the situation at the store, where 350 workers have been locked out by the company, and then reporting its findings back to a Swedish and international audience.

The four strong fact-finding team is led by Peter Lövkvist, federation secretary of the Nordic Transport Workers’ Federation (NTF), which represents 400,000 transport workers across the Nordic countries.

International Transport Workers' Federation: Press area

[ABFwife]

Global Labour Leaders Vow Action in Richmond Ikea Fight

The increasingly-fractious, six month labour dispute at IKEA's big box store in Richmond may be on the verge of a dramatic escalation -- all the way to Europe.

After listening to a wealth of emotional testimony from embittered IKEA employees during a hearing in Vancouver, international trade union representatives are pledging overseas action on behalf of the Richmond store workers, if the prolonged conflict continues.

"We will do everything we can that's in our power," declared Peter Lövkvist, secretary of the Nordic Transport Workers' Federation, which represents 400,000 union members across all five Nordic countries, including IKEA's home base of Sweden. "We're not ruling anything out."

The Tyee – Global Labour Leaders Vow Action in Richmond Ikea Fight